ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI (Nazrana Times): India and Pakistan have presented sharply different accounts of a collision involving their naval vessels in the North Arabian Sea on September 15, with both sides blaming the other for the incident and lodging diplomatic protests.

The incident involved an Indian naval warship and a Pakistan Navy vessel during operations in the Arabian Sea. While New Delhi says the Pakistani vessel approached the Indian ship in an unsafe and unprofessional manner, Islamabad maintains that the Indian vessel carried out dangerous manoeuvres near a Pakistani naval ship participating in an exercise.

Neither side’s account of how the collision occurred has been independently established.

India Blames Pakistani Naval Conduct

According to India’s Ministry of External Affairs, a Pakistan Navy vessel approached an Indian warship that was carrying out a routine surveillance mission in the North Arabian Sea on the evening of September 15.

India described the conduct of the Pakistani naval unit as “unacceptable and unprofessional” and said it resulted in the collision.

New Delhi subsequently summoned Pakistan’s Charge d’Affaires and lodged a formal diplomatic protest over the incident.

Indian reports identified the vessels involved as the Indian Navy’s INS Kolkata and Pakistan Navy’s PNS Hunain.

According to the Indian account, the Pakistani vessel approached the Indian warship at high speed despite warnings. Indian reports have also cited the 1991 India-Pakistan Agreement on Advance Notice on Military Exercises, Manoeuvres and Troop Movements in connection with the incident.

Indian reports said the Indian vessel did not suffer major structural damage and continued its mission following the collision.

Pakistan Rejects Indian Account

Pakistan, however, has disputed India’s version and lodged its own diplomatic protest.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the incident occurred while the Pakistan Navy was conducting its biennial exercise, SEASPARK-26, within Pakistan’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

According to Islamabad’s account, the Indian naval vessel carried out what Pakistan described as aggressive manoeuvres in dangerously close proximity to a Pakistani naval ship, resulting in contact between the two vessels.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office described the Indian action as provocative and unacceptable and said the incident risked escalating tensions in the region.

Islamabad also alleged that the Indian vessel’s conduct violated international law and the 1991 bilateral agreement governing advance notification of military exercises, manoeuvres and troop movements.

Pakistan summoned the Charge d’Affaires of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad to lodge a formal protest and called on India to comply with international law and bilateral agreements intended to prevent dangerous incidents at sea.

Pakistan also said its Charge d’Affaires in New Delhi would lodge a similar diplomatic protest with India’s Ministry of External Affairs.

Conflicting Claims Remain Unresolved

The two governments therefore agree that contact occurred between their naval vessels on September 15 but differ fundamentally over the circumstances that led to it.

India maintains that the Pakistani naval unit’s conduct caused the collision, while Pakistan says the incident resulted from manoeuvres by the Indian vessel.

Claims concerning the precise movements, warnings and conduct of the vessels immediately before the collision remain disputed between the two sides.

The incident comes amid continuing tensions between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours and has prompted diplomatic protests in both capitals.

With New Delhi and Islamabad offering competing versions of events, establishing the precise sequence of events would require independently verifiable evidence beyond the statements and claims released by the two governments.

Ali Imran Chattha | Nazrana Times